Welcome Home

Ron woke to find Hermione kissing her way down his body. They were making love before he was really fully awake. There was an urgency to Hermione's actions that at once aroused him and made him a little worried. She took the lead, straddling him without compunction. Whether it was a lack of sleep, or the fact that he'd been dreaming about Potions class when she woke him, he lasted longer this time-long enough to notice a quickening in her body-long enough to move his fingers and take her with him when he came. She fell forward on to his chest, breathing hard.

"We are definitely getting better at this," she said, as she shuddered against him.

Ron nodded and kissed the top of her head, pulling the covers back over them.

"It's going to be horrible not to be able to do this anymore." She pressed her face against his chest.

"What?" Ron exclaimed, lurching up in bed.

"Ouch!" She slid off him. "What were you expecting? Your Mum and Dad to give us our own room?"

"I…well…I...bloody hell." He fell back against the bed covering his face with his hands.

Hermione rested her head on his chest again. "I'm going to miss you."

"Bloody hell," he repeated. He looked over at the clock. It was only six-thirty in the morning. "Do we have to get up yet?"

"No. Mum and Dad won't be up for awhile. We were up so late last night, I'm sure they'll lie in."

"Good," Ron said, wrapping his arms around her. "Let's skip the cleaning charm and go take a shower."

Hermione looked at him and grinned. "Alright, then."

xXx

It was after nine o'clock when they finally descended the stairs to find her parents, looking haggard, sitting in the kitchen. Mrs. Granger made breakfast, and while they ate, the Grangers asked clarifying questions regarding the previous night's conversation about the war. Ron and Hermione answered as well as they could, but had to admit they didn't always know the answers. Clearly, the Grangers had talked long after Ron and Hermione had gone to bed.

The rest of the day had a somber air about it. Ron and Mr. Granger returned to the library and the junk from the garage. Hermione and her mother resumed knitting. All talk was in hushed tones. No one wanted lunch when Mrs. Granger offered it, but everyone had tea and biscuits at two o'clock. At three-thirty, Hermione said she and Ron should go pack. It only took a few minutes. They met her parents at the bottom of the stairs and left for the train station. No one spoke on the drive. Hermione held Ron's hand tightly the whole way.

At the station, both of Hermione's parents hugged her at the same time, murmuring things to her that Ron couldn't hear. He tried to be inconspicuous and stay out of their way.

When the three finally parted, Mr. Granger, his eyes red-rimmed, shook Ron's hand. "Take care of yourself, son, and look after Hermione as much as she'll let you."

Ron nodded, a lump forming in his throat.

Mrs. Granger threw her arms around him. "Do take care," she said.

As Hermione watched her parents walk away, Ron could see a visible change in her. It seemed to him as if she morphed from teen to woman in just a few short seconds. He wasn't sure if it was something in her posture or the tilt of her head, but when her parents were no longer visible in the crowd, she was more like herself than she'd been all weekend. She was Hermione-brilliant, headstrong, self-possessed.

She turned to him. "Let's go." As before, she navigated the crowds, acquired tickets, and found their train as though she used Muggle transportation every day.

Once again, they managed a car mostly to themselves, but this time instead of being snuggled nervously against him, she sat across from him, pulled a long piece of parchment and a quill out of her bag and started writing.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked.

"Making notes of everything we know about the Horcruxes. We've got to start somewhere."

Ron nodded, but the more Hermione talked, the less comfortable he was with the idea of looking for the bloody things.

"I think it's pretty obvious Harry doesn't have any sort of plan. But he's firm on not going back to school, so we're going to have to have some sort of strategy. The way I see it, we have two immediate concerns, a place to work and research materials."

Ron nodded again. "Both of which are available at Hogwarts."

Hermione set down her quill. "True, but Harry's been pretty clear on that subject."

"Yeah," Ron said grimly, looking out the window. "And that's all he's been clear on."

"Well, I'm going to list some possibilities, and we'll go over them with Harry when we get home."

Ron smiled to hear her refer to the Burrow as 'home.'

xXx

The train pulled into the station right at eight o'clock and Mr. Weasley was waiting for them. Ron took his arm and the two Apparated with Hermione right behind them. They were surprised to find the Burrow even more of a hive of activity than it usually was. Fred and George were home and Mrs. Weasley had moved the kitchen table out into the garden. She squealed when she saw the three of them appear at the gate.

"Oh, you're home, you're home," she cried, throwing her arms around Ron.

"Come on, Mum," Ron said, his face reddening. "I've only been away a few days."

"But your first time among Muggles, dear. It's exciting." His mother patted his arm. Then she hugged Hermione. "How are your parents, dear?"

Hermione nodded and said they were good.

Mr. Weasley clapped Ron on the shoulder. "I hope you came with lots of stories."

"Loads of stuff, Dad. Mr. Granger showed me all kinds of Muggle artifacts, and he even gave me an electric clock to give to you. I've got it in my bag."

"Really?" His father clapped his hands together. "That's excellent, let's have a look."

"Can it wait a minute? I'm dying for some pumpkin juice. Muggles don't drink it."

"Of course, come inside, come inside," his mother said.

They all trailed into the kitchen. Harry and Ginny were putting plates and glasses on a tray to bring outside.

"About time you lot were back," Harry said, giving Hermione a warm hug and shaking Ron's hand.

"It's been dead boring without you," Ginny quipped. She set two more glasses on the tray.

"Really?" Hermione said.

"You've no idea." Ginny rolled her eyes.

Ron poured Hermione a glass of pumpkin juice and handed it to her before pouring one for himself.

xXx

Dinner was a rowdy affair. Mr. Weasley and Ron had a lengthy discussion at the head of the table about all things Muggle. Fred and George kept everyone else in stitches with their stories of work. Hermione couldn't help but admire their ability to make even the most mundane day into a zany story. They spent a good three hours at the table, but the night was balmy and the food was delicious. Hermione felt a tug of guilt at how happy she was to be back.

After everyone had helped clean up, people began drifting off to bed. Finally, no one was left in the parlor but Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione.

"So, what did you do while we were gone?" Hermione asked, remembering Ginny's comment from earlier.

Ginny fell back against the sofa. "It was awful."

"Oh, come on," Harry said. "It wasn't that bad."

"Mum decided to take us shopping. It was dreadful," Ginny said, glaring at Harry.

Harry shrugged. "It did sort of go on all day."

"Thankfully, Fred and George showed up yesterday or I suppose we'd have had to clean something or weed the garden, anything to keep us busy and not on our own."

Ron's eyebrows shot up. "What's that?"

Harry shook his head. "It's Ginny's imagination, is what it is."

"No, it's not," Ginny protested. "The minute you two left, suddenly we were under a microscope. I'm thrilled you're back, now maybe they can continue worrying about what you're up to and leave us alone."

"Alone to do what?" Ron wanted to know.

"Oh, please!" Ginny got up. "I'm going to bed."

"Why do you do that?" Hermione asked Ron.

"What?" Ron asked innocently.

"On that note," Harry said and walked upstairs.

"We should go too," Hermione said. "I can barely keep my eyes open."

Ron reached out and took her hand. "Are you sure you don't want to stay here with me for a little while?"

"I'm absolutely positive that I shouldn't." Hermione stood and tugged on Ron's hand.

"Fine," he grumbled

"It's going to be lonely sleeping without you." Hermione said to Ron, as they stood outside Ginny's door. As she said it, Harry came out of the bathroom.

Harry's eyes widened. He cleared his throat. "Goodnight," he mumbled as he passed them in the hall.

When Ron came into his room a few minutes later, Harry was sitting on his cot staring at his hands. At first, Ron ignored him and got ready for bed, but finally Harry's stillness got to him. "What?"

Harry shook his head.

Ron sat on the side of his own bed, facing Harry. "What?"

Harry didn't look at him. "You're sleeping with Hermione."

Ron looked over at his pillow. "Looks like I'm sleeping alone to me."

Harry looked up him, a cross expression on his face. "You know what I mean."

Ron pushed his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, I know what you mean. So what's your point?"

"My point? My point is…well…it's Hermione, that's my point."

"I'm not following you."

Harry shook his head again. "I don't know. I mean, it's Hermione, I just can't imagine–"

"Good," Ron interrupted. "I'd rather you didn't."

"I don't mean it like that. She's just so–"

"Amazing? Incredible? Really, this is just more evidence that there's nothing that girl can't do."

Harry laughed. "If you say so. Isn't it just the slightest bit weird though? I mean, come on, Ron, you've known her since she was a little girl."

Ron shrugged. "She's not a little girl anymore, and I'm not a little boy. We've all grown up. I know you've noticed."

"Yeah," Harry said, falling back on the bed. "But still, it seems weird doesn't it? We used to all sit around playing exploding snap and making of fun of Malfoy, and now, now you're shagging Hermione, and Malfoy's a Death Eater. That's just weird."

Ron nodded his head. "Yeah, I see what you're saying, but it's alright, yeah." He knew he should say something about the Horcruxes, but Harry seemed so low, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Tomorrow, he thought, I'll talk to him tomorrow.